


Lost

by timelostdoctor



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29487570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelostdoctor/pseuds/timelostdoctor
Summary: It's up to the Doctor and Yaz to watch a lost child until her family comes to collect her.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Lost

There was crying. It wasn’t loud, or wailing. No, this was quiet, subdued. Like the person crying didn’t want anyone to hear. Like it was supposed to be a secret. The Doctor stopped and listened carefully, trying to see where the crying was coming from. It was muffled, making it harder to follow. 

“Doctor--”

The Doctor threw her hand up and closed her eyes, focusing all her energy to her ears. A sniff and then more soft cries. A child. Just to the left. “D’you hear that?” She didn’t wait for an answer, instead grabbing Yaz’s hand and pulling her in the direction of the child. 

The planet they were on was meant to be a retreat spot. A planet of nothing but tourist attractions with snow capped mountains to climb, deep jungles to explore, murky oceans to dive into, and more theme parks than anywhere else. If you wanted to do something, this was the planet you came to. As it were, the Doctor and Yaz had been taking a stroll along a cave-dotted rocky beach. Technically this was part of the spelunking attraction, but neither of them had picked a cave or donned their gear. 

As they neared a cave the cries became more clear. The Doctor glanced back at Yaz before charging in. The child, a small girl of no more than six years, was pressed against the rough stone at the entrance. The Doctor was looking around the cave with her torch to ensure there was no present danger when she heard Yaz speak. “Hey. I’m Yaz. Are you lost?”

Straight to the point. When it seemed nothing was wrong with the cave, the Doctor moved closer to Yaz and the girl. The little girl just looked up at Yaz, her purple eyes wide and frightened. She tried to scoot further back against the rock. 

“No, no! It’s alright. We just want to help.” Yaz tone was even. Placating. It might have worked in a high stress situation, but the Doctor didn’t think that’s what this was. With a touch of a hand on a shoulder, the Doctor caught Yaz’s attention. 

“Let me,” she whispered. When Yaz moved, the Doctor sat on the cold, gritty ground. “It’s awfully dark in here, innit?” The girl looked at the Doctor warily and didn’t say anything, but she watched the Doctor with curiosity. “I got a torch here. You want it? Dead good for making scary shadows go away.” Without waiting for a reply, the Doctor sat it on the ground in front of the child who snatched it up immediately. She held it tight in her hands, eyes flicking between the Doctor and Yaz. 

The Doctor offered the girl an encouraging smile. “I’m the Doctor and this is my mate, Yaz. We’re here to have fun. Don’t you have any mates with you?” 

The girl’s eyes slid from the Doctor to the torch before she decided to nod. “My brother. He was supposed to watch me while our parents went to the adults only section, but he has a friend here so they told me to sit here and wait.” Her voice quivered and her eyes were already filling with tears again. “But I’m afraid all by myself.”

The Doctor scrunched her nose in annoyance. “Brothers are rotten that way, aren’t they? I bet if you tell your mum and dad, he’ll get into proper trouble. But that isn’t going to help now, is it?”

The little girl shook her head. “No. And I really have to pee.”

“Tell you what, you tell me what I can call you, and I’ll take you to the bathroom.” The Doctor shifted into a crouch, eyebrows raised.

The little girl looked away. “I’m not supposed to tell strangers my name.”

“No, of course not. You can make one up if you’d like.” She leaned in with a conspiratorial smile. “My parents didn’t name me Doctor. I called myself that. It’s the nice thing about names. We can choose who we are.”

The girl took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m Kyp.”

The Doctor held out her hand. “Nice to meet ya, Kyp. What’s say we go find a bathroom and some food?”

And just like that, they were out of the cave and into daylight again. They traveled the very short distance to the nearest restaurant where Kyp zipped into the bathroom. 

While they were waiting outside the doors, Yaz bumped her shoulder into the Doctor’s. “That was some skill back there. Where did you learn to be so good with kids?” 

The crease between the Doctor’s eyebrows deepened. “With my own.” She purposefully ignored Yaz’s surprised expression as Kyp emerged. “Now you washed those hands? I really don’t want to touch germy hands.”

Kyp giggled. “Yes! Wanna smell?” She pushed her hand toward the Doctor’s nose, so the Doctor bent and smelled. 

“Ah yes. Very good. Now, food!” When she glanced back to make sure Yaz was coming, the pensive look on her face put a knot in the Doctor’s stomach. She shouldn’t have said anything. Everytime she opened up it was like pouring more questions than answers, and she couldn’t give answers. Not right now.

But then Kyp was pulling on the sleeve of her jacket and asking for chicken nuggets, and she let the train of thought go.

Three hours of adventure stories, play time, and getting kicked out of the restaurant later, a dark-haired boy ran up to them. “Zhora!” He skidded to a stop in front of where they were, with Kyp passed out, head on the Doctor’s shoulder as they sat quietly on a bench.

“I take it your Thane?” the Doctor asked. He gave a short nod. “We’ll your sister is safe and sound, no thanks to you. Be a better brother. What if she’d gone off to play in the water? Or tried cave diving on her own?”

Shame clouded his features. “Sorry.”

“Hm. See to it that you act like it.” The Doctor shook Kyp, who was apparently actually Zhora, awake. “Hey honey. Time to wake up. Your brother’s here.” The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes.

She clambered off the Doctor’s lap and turned back with a smile. “Thank you Doctor, Yaz. I had a lot of fun!” And with that, the siblings were gone.

The Doctor sat back onto the bench with a sigh. “Sorry about the day. Know you wanted to do fun stuff.”

Yaz placed a hand on the Doctor’s, giving it a small squeeze. “I always have fun with you. Besides, seeing you with Kyp--” 

“Zhora.”

“Seeing you with  _ Kyp _ , the name she picked, was sweet.” Yaz smiled, and the Doctor released the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. “You’re really good with kids.“I bet you were a great mum. Or dad. Or whatever.””

The Doctor wasn’t sure how to answer that, so instead she squeezed Yaz’s hand in return. Yaz scooted closer and laid her head on the Doctor’s shoulder and looked out at the ocean. They sat there for a while, taking in the salty air and the chatter of the crowds until the Doctor had yet another person asleep on her shoulder. With a small smile, she kissed the top of Yaz’s head and relaxed. Before long, her eyes had fluttered closed, her cheek pressed against Yaz, and they were left in peace. 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by people on tumblr begging for thirteen to watch a kid and by me watching 12 look after a kid rather badly. I feel like despite some of her characteristics, thirteen would be really good with kids. Let me know your thoughts!


End file.
